Jennifer Coughlin, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, articulates the researchers’ hopes that the findings yielding from the study, which encompassed nine former NFL football players, will help further inform the game.

In a Johns Hopkins Medicine news release, she adds, “That may mean individuals are able to make more educated decisions about whether they’re susceptible to brain injury, advise how helmets are structured or inform guidelines for the game to better protect players.”